One Week in Brooklyn 12/16/13

Hello!                                                                                                                           12/16/13

       So as you may have guessed from the title of the message I am serving in Midwood, Brooklyn New York. My plane flight here was delayed a half an hour because they ran out of overhead area on the plane and had to wait while they checked all of the additional carry-ons. So it was not delayed because of weather and the flight was only a little bit bumpy.

       When we got here the APs and President and Sister Calderwood picked us up. They gave us a lunch and took us to a building where we watched a welcome video and then went up to the roof. Up there we could see the skyline which was really cool. We did our interviews and personal goal setting for our mission up there.

      Then off to the mission home, where we got homemade sliders for dinner. We talked about our mission a bit afterward, took some pictures, and then off to bed with the sisters upstairs and the elders in the basement. The next morning it started snowing and after breakfast we went to the mission office which is a church building.

There we filed in to another room where our trainers were all sitting with an empty seat next to them. They started with the elders and had each one individually step forward and get told who their trainer is going to be. So of course .....I went last. My trainer is Sister F and she is awesome!! We are getting along so well. We have very similar tastes in food and clothes, we even have some of the same stuff just in different colors, plus she is from California. So they gave us pizza, I got to see Elder Clark,  and Elder Duncan. Then we had transfer meeting, and then picked up my package and an iPad. Yes I do get to use an iPad mini which is really cool. Apparently we were either the 8th or the 9th mission to get them. I also get a subway card so I can use the buses and the subway instead of driving a car.

Then we went to our apartment and then had a district meeting.

        On Wednesday, I got to go to the temple! Sister F had a newly reactivated convert who invited her to come see her get her endowment and since it was easier than splitting up, I got to go too.

Then from 6pm to 9 pm is Prime Time which means that most people are coming home from work to that is the best time to go and do referrals, street contacting, and lessons.

      The other big thing that happened was on Friday we had the ward Christmas party. There was members acting out the nativity with a two week old baby playing Jesus. All of the missionaries in our ward did two musical numbers. We sang away in a manger and far far away in Judaea's plains. Sister F and I are the only sisters and then there are three companionships of elders.

Now to answer the questionnaire.

1. How is the weather? 

Cold, it snowed the first day that I got here.

It hasn't snowed a lot since then but wind will really drop the temperature.

2.Tell us about your place you are living in? 

This place is huge! I was expecting some tiny little apartment but our study- living room-ish area alone is larger than my room at the MTC. Then we have a tiny kitchen, a bedroom with a bunk bed and a regular bed, a bathroom, and several small closets.

Until Next Time,

Sister Megan Hodgson

Thanksgiving 12/6/2013

Thank you for all the letters that everyone has been sending me. It has been really nice to letters every day!

So this week was a little weird. Since we were supposed to come the day before thanksgiving the MTC didn't have any new missionaries that week. So when people started leaving on monday and Tuesday the MTC started to get really empty. It was nice to have short lines in the cafeteria, but when we went to the gym I found myself wondering where everyone was. 

Also it snowed all day Tuesday so we have about 6-8 inches of snow here and it is below 10 degrees here, needless to say my companion and I are freezing!! (but all of the rooms we go to are really warm so don't worry)

Tuesday night we had a devotional where Elder Ballard was supposed to come but he couldn't make it because of the snow. So Bruce C. Hafen from the first Quorum of the Seventy got called at 4 that he would be the one talking to us that night. Talk about short notice! He talked to us about why missionaries go to the temple before the MTC. ( He also said that the MTC is EFY on steroids) 

On Sunday we each got new callings. Sister S and I are now the Sister Training Leaders. which means that it is our responsibility to welcome all of the new sisters who came in on Wednesday, decorate their doors, visit them each night, show them around, and teach them the rules. So far it has been great! The new sisters are all really strong. One of them is even from Highland Utah but she doesn't know Jim and Jill, I asked. 

This Thursday was our in-field orientation. It was 9 hours long!! I had heard a lot of bad things about it, but I actually really liked it. They kept us moving around to different rooms, there was a lot of object lessons, and we had multiple chances to participate. They also did a play to show us what the first Sunday will be like and two of the sisters in my district got chosen to play the primary president and relief society president. The play was hilarious because they totally played off the stereotypical fresh out of the MTC, dorky missionary. I also got to see Elder Christianson from "The District" and hug one of the sisters (I don't remember her last name) from "The District". 

The teachers here are great. Elder N and Elder N teach us almost everyday for three hours each. We practice teaching investigators who are our teachers. Then we go over one of the eight fundamentals, watch a demonstration, and then practice for ourselves. For example one of the fundamentals is Teach people Not lessons. With that we learn how to listen to our investigator and teach them what they most need to here even if it is not the lesson we have prepared.

  

So I took a break to go get my laundry out of the dryer and Sister S and I left our laundry bags in the classroom to go get our sack lunches but when we got back our bags were gone. We then found two of our elders hiding behind chairs in the hallway because they took it. When we demanded it back the only thing they said is that there is a note on my desk. The note said go to the elevator for laundry( we are on the second floor). In the elevator there was another note that said go to the fourth floor. At the top it said go to room 431. At 431 it said go to the girls bathroom on the third floor. Outside the bathroom  it said go to room 314B. In that room it said your laundry is right below you. So we went down to the second floor and our elders were sitting quietly in there with our bags in the corner. So all in all, they are creative but very very annoying. :)

Until Next Time,

Sister Megan Hodgson

Life in the MTC 12/9/2013

Dear Family,                                                                                                              12/9/2013

Yay for P-days!! My laundry is currently washing downstairs as we speak. So before I get into stuff about the MTC I am going to answer some questions from home.

It sounds like scrooge is going great make sure you tape it so I can watch it when I get home. 

 I have seen Sister Sarah Telford, Sister Waverly Smith, and Elder Brett  ( Sister Viertel's nephew) and I have taken pictures with both girls. 

So now for MTC life. 

Here is an example of one of my schedules: 7 am personal study 8:15 breakfast additional study 8:45- 9:10 TRC- progressing investigator 9:10- 10:10 classroom 10:10- 1:10 lunch 1:10 zone teaching 1:55- 2:40 classroom 2:45- 5:45 daily planning 5:45 dinner 6:10 additional study 6:55- 8 gym 8:10- 9 get ready for bed, journal, etc 9:30- 10:15 quiet time 10:15 lights out 10:30 pm then repeat. 

Life at the MTC is very busy.  It is really hard, we learn everything so quickly here I am starting to understand why you should memorize scriptures and know where they are. Then hardest thing they asked us to memorize so far is Joseph Smith's first vision. 

My district is really nice we are really starting to bond after spending so much time together. My companion is Sister S. We also have Sister P, Sister Sn, Elder B, Elder L, Elder S and Elder L. 

The Temple will be closed until January for cleaning so I won't be able to go at all, but i am really happy that I am here for three weeks because there is still so much to learn. For Emily, they do give talks where they mention worthiness but they haven't talked about it as much as I thought they would plus I haven't really done anything that would cause a lot of guilt so I think that I am good. The MTC hasn't really freaked me out, but I am really scared for New York.

They promised that Thanksgiving at the MTC would be unforgettable, and they weren't lying. In the morning Elder B, Elder S, Sister S and I all went to choir practice to sing Hope of Israel for Russell M. Nelson. Singing in the choir was great the choir director was so funny. Sister N spoke first, and she said that our mission is a time to put away childish things. We are on our way to change from a child of God to a god. She gave us three tips. 1. if there is anything in your life that could prevent you from moving forward, clean it up 2. do anything you can to improve your knowledge of the atonement and 3. pray to be lead to someone whose ancestors are ready to receive their saving ordinances. Elder Nelson suggested that we make our best friend in the ward be the Ward Mission Leader, and our second best friend be the Ward Family History Leader. He said we must be obedient. Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles. Remember your converts, keep in touch with them, encourage them, they are like your children in the gospel. In order to put the savior first we must put ourselves second. It is good to have character it is not good to be a character.

Later we had our thanksgiving lesson. It was weird!! These are some of the musical numbers: piano "Hedwig's theme" song" over the river and through the woods" and a fiddle piece. then they acted out the first thanksgiving with missionary volunteers dressed as indians, turkeys, pilgrims, and a priest! It was fun though.

We then did a service project where we made instant meals and we made about 350,000 of those and then we ended the day by watching Ephriam's Rescue.

Until Next Time,

Sister Megan Hodgson

Arrival 11/21/2013

Nov 21, 2013

            So I got to the MTC just fine.  I actually got here early but it didn't matter because we had 4 people get here late.  My sister escort (I didn't catch her name) was super nice.  She helped me roll all of my bags around and took me to get checked in.  There are people there who put your name tag on for you.  It was a magnet so I didn't have to worry about getting poked.  We were also given a second name tag with a pin, a key for our room and an MTC card.  The card opens all of the doors, gets us food, and has $8 a week for vending snacks and small bookstore purchases.  We have eight people in our district (including me)  All of the sisters and one Elder are going to my mission and the other three elders are going to Texas.  We have the 4 of us in one room we have bunk beds so there are two empty beds.  My companion is Sister S, she is from Virginia and she is super nice we are getting along great.  Same with the other two sisters.  Sister P and Sister S.  We always eat meals together and walk around as a group.  The MTC is really hard to navigate every building looks the same.  Our days are very scheduled and we can barely find a 5 min break to go to the bathroom.  I was able to unpack most of my suitcase into the closet.  We will be leaving Dec 9th because we were supposed to come next week but they had us come early so we wouldn't be coming so close to thanksgiving.  Also the sisters and Elder that are going to my mission also only had 5 weeks between their call and report date so I am not alone.  My Pday will be Thursday which means I can't go to the temple because it is closed for the holiday.  We have had lots of time to study and yet it still doesn't feel like enough time.  We also have classes that are really long.  We are currently having our teachers pretend to be investigators so that we can practice.  My companion is super nice and talkative but unsure of herself.  Her personality is like a mix between Rachel and Kaitlin which is perfect and we teach well together.  She told me today that I remind her of her sister.  I have taken some pictures and will continue to do that.  I love you all and hope that all of the Scrooge performances go well.  Oh I am the senior companion.  We will switch about half way through our time at the MTC.

Love Sister Megan Hodgson